Don't get me on that subject...lol...I'll put it this way. Agreed.

I assume this is aimed just as ILLEGAL immigrants, and not immigrants in general?

Yes, that is correct.

I was actually referring to Cynthia's comment of there are so many NON ENLGISH SPEAKING people using the benefits. that is beyond bullshit! go to your own damn country!.

She did say illegal aliens in the same post, you know.

Well if that is what she meant then she should have continued to refer to them as such, rather than substituting "non English speaking people" because that is not the same thing AT ALL.

Why did you put emphasis on "non-English" speaking people? There is no dichotomy between illegal immigrants and non-English speaking people.

That was kind of the point I was going for. I was just being more diplomatic about it!

She did say illegal aliens in the same post, you know.

So? There was emphasis on "non-English speaking," which is rather confusing, since there are both English speaking illegals, and non-English speaking citizens.

/agree. Yet another thing that could be fixed.

I agree that they should be drug tested to get benefits but I know it will never happen. Speaking strictly from my own experience every single person I know who gets benefits abuses them. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. They sell their food stamps to buy drugs, use their Medicaid to get free pills to sell... to buy drugs and if they get cash assistance (most don't) then duh...they buy drugs. Now I know every person doesn't do this, but every person around me does. And their kids do suffer and I think they deserve to be taken away from them. Again, from my own experience with CPS they actually did everything possible to keep my niece in my sisters home after she failed several drug tests. They sent her rehab, had a counselor come see her everyday, tried to help her with her depression and anxiety, helped her looks for jobs, provided day care to alleviate stress, helped find her stable place to live...the list goes on. My sister refused to quit doing drugs but instead of taking the blame on herself she blamed cps for breaking up her "happy home".

Exactly....everyone I know does the same damn thing. Then there's me....I can't get help for me and my family. And I would pass a urine test, no problem. But I can't get benefits :D

Enter welfare into a conversation and you hear some fun stuff, eh?

I've been on welfare twice, currently, actually. I grew up to find out just how inadequate the system can be, for instance we lived in a guesthouse, just my mom and I, and the money we got for welfare couldn't cover the rent for this little 4 room deal. And now, mom is on disability, which in itself was HORRIBLY difficult to get on (Thank you, Indiana). We get food stamps. I myself am going to apply because frankly, the amount she gets (after they reduced it astronomically --200 to 12) does NOT cover two people now that I'm a college graduate and back home. Would I get a drug test? Sure, I haven't touched drugs. I think I'm fairly law-abiding, too. Do I WANT to be on it? No, it's problematic, which is sad--but it WOULD be nice to have health insurance again. *shrug* I got lucky when I went to the hospital and they had a charity for people that are uninsured (or I'd be $40K MORE in debt outside of student loans).

People such as you and your mom, sound genuine. I don't mind helping people that actually need it. And for you to be a college graduate tops the cake. Most of the people on welfare are non-law abiding. Running, buying and consuming the drugs make up the majority of their day, and it disgusts me. I'm glad that you and your mom are getting assistance :)

AS people have said reapeated people with kids have to fight to get the help. My husband and I are on cash. between the 2 of us we have to do 35 hours of job search. And our workfirst person calls each and every place we write down to see that we actually put in an app.. or to see if we sent in our resume. we don't do it, we lose our cash. Yes we get food stamps too. But why focus on just people with kids.. everyone is bitching about people with kids being on welfare, and their tax money paying for it and all this BS about drug testing... your tax money is also paying for men and women with felonies to recieve food stamps.. I know a few people who have felonies, don't have any hoops to jump through and get food stamps no questions asked on the spot.. my husband and I had to go through a 45 approval process to get food stamps to feed our children.

Okay, during my unfortunate few months when I was unemployed, I had to recieve government payments to keep myself alive. And I say HAD TO because I refused to go down to the office and say "I need help" because, well I was too proud for that. Anyway, I did, it helped. However, when I was on payments, I had to go to the office every two weeks and hand in a piece of paper to prove I had been looking for work and so forth. Which is where my issue starts - it is amazing how much you overhear when you are standing in that line. There are people in that line who will lie about looking for work, and will willingly take the money the government gives them and spend it on drugs, alcohol, parties etc. In all fairness - no not EVERYONE is scamming the system - but there were clearly a few people who were abusing the system. I mean some of the people in that line were 18-19 years old, they were just out of high school and they didn't need to get a job, why get a job when the government pays for them to sit around drinking with friends all day? I just think that - maybe drug testing is a bit extreme, but I'd like to see some system in place to ensure that these people aren't using the money in order to sit around and not care about finding work.

I'm the same way....I'm too proud.

Imagine how many people do it that DON'T talk about it in line? and if you overheard enough people for you to remember it that one day, how many others are talking about it in line the rest of the day, or every other day after that? And if we could get rid of those..how much of my and every other taxpaying citizen's money would be saved?

I don't want to pay for some ignorant piece of crap to smoke dope or deal drugs or get high or drunk or any of that.

You cannot just target one group of people on welfare/benefits, if someone where to set up a system of testing for drugs you would be spending a lot of money, there are various things you need such as

Staff, someone needs to arrange all appointments, ensure people attend, track those down who do not, there simply would not be enough current staff to do this over a relatively short amount of time. Not only do these staff need training and somewhere to actually work, they need thorough training.

Drugs tests, who is going to carry them out? Will a centre be built/hired for those on benefits, or will those carrying out tests individually visit the homes of those on welfare? Both options cost a lot of money.

New managers to over see this process in small areas will be needed, they'll be costly.

Financial services, either a new branch of accountants will need to be employed, or diverted from elsewhere and retrained.

There are legal drugs you can take which mean you would fail a drugs test, but produce the bottle and the test has to be ignored, you cannot simply access a persons medical records and you cannot ask a GP what they have prescribed to a person. Those who are on drugs will soon realise by buying some legal drugs, they can produce their medication to effectively pass their drug test and carry on receiving money.

Are those who receive benefits able to receive rehabilitation treatment? Or aren't they deemed worthy enough?

Now, lets go through the most likely scenario of a drug addict (who is unable to think straight) having their income removed, firstly they may start stealing to pay for their drug habit, soon after they will be evicted. That will lead to more crime, not only will they now need drug money, but also need to steal for food etc. In women, the largest cause of prostitution is to fund a drug habit. Now, theft and prostitution, these often lead to prison, now I know for a fact the cost of someone to go through court and then remain in prison for a year, costs far far more than being on benefits for one year.

Were, not where, oops.

Oh, ok. So, since they're just gonna do something else illegal, it's okay to keep letting them do what they're doing illegally now, only on taxpayer money? I don't agree. Drug test them. Use current facilities tht each state has..adding a room or two costs less than a whole building, I'm sure. Have something set up where if they want rehabilitation, they can get it..but not at gov't (and taxpayer) expense.

*sigh* If the government and taxpayer aren't going to pay for it, what makes you think the people on both drugs AND welfare are going to?

Why should I have to pay for it? I wasn't the one doing it. They were using taxpayer money to do something illegal w/out remorse. We gave them gov't funding and they abused it..so the answer is to keep giving it to them? I don't agree.

Which brings us back to square one -- their kids suffer.